The Branch Manager

On the rocky foreshore in Ahuriri you often come across visitors photographing  black Shag birds (Cormorant’s,) resting on long branches. The branches look like a artwork protruding from an old rusty ships boiler.

‘On a good day you will see 50 plus Shags resting, drying their wings before the next fishing trip”. said Vic Jennings a local Ahuriri resident and the person responsible for securing the branches to the rusty boiler.

Vic likes birds, especially seabirds, “ I have always lived on the coast and been involved in bird rescue projects.

In 2016 I searched the marine parade beach for long branches,”driftwood” I towed the branches back to Ahuriri behind my bicycle on the cycle path, “ the locals must have thought I was a nutter”

With help from other keen locals the branches were secured to the old boiler, “ within days shags both local and visitors starting using the branches. “ it’s been two years and I know many of the birds, some have names,”Vic said.

Thanks to Vic, the Shags have a safe place to rest, locals claim this is the most photographed structure in Napier. Whether this claim is true or not, those using the reserve and the Hawke’s Bay get to appreciate these beautiful birds, thanks to Vic.